


Drops in the Ocean

by Drazyrohk, Harutemu



Series: Deep Magic [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Magic, Mer!Blurr, Mer!Shockwave, Merformers, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-14 10:34:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13588245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drazyrohk/pseuds/Drazyrohk, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harutemu/pseuds/Harutemu
Summary: The continuing story of Blurr, the human turned mer, and his cuddlefish friend Longarm.





	1. Shockwave and Blurr

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the expanded world of Deep Magic! Here we will learn more about Blurr and the circumstances that turned him from a normal human man into a colourful mako shark merman. We'll see more of his interactions with Longarm, also known as Shockwave the kraken. I hope you enjoy!

Shockwave had an obnoxious amount of tentacles. 

As sleek and quick as Blurr was in this new form, he couldn’t seem to wriggle his way free of them. Everytime he pulled one off, two more seemed to come out of nowhere to replace it. Shockwave wasn’t being violent, not at all. He was being downright gentle and playful, and though Blurr was no longer in any danger of drowning, the position he was in reminded him a little too much of the first time he had encountered the ‘Cuddlefish’ in his youth.

It made him panic, made him struggle, but Shockwave responded to his thrashing by gentling his touch even further. One tentacle wrapped around Blurr’s slender middle, another around his wrists, the rest of them stroking over the length of his body. 

“You are alright.” Shockwave said softly. “There is no danger. I have you.” 

“Th-that’s not exactly s-something that’s going to assuage m-my concerns!” Blurr hissed, flashing his sharp teeth in an expression that was just short of being a threat. He turned over so his belly was facing towards the sea floor, Shockwave pressing a little closer and wrapping yet another tentacle around his dorsal fin. “What are you even doing?”

“Expressing my curiosity.” Shockwave said in that quiet, steady voice of his. 

Oh. Of course. Just the same as he had years ago when he dragged Blurr off that fishing boat. The tentacles felt a lot different this time and perhaps they seemed more numerous since there weren’t garments to get in the way of them. 

“Hm.” Shockwave mused softly. “I was expecting your skin to be softer.” 

“I’m not human anymore, I’m sure you n-noticed thaaat-” Blurr squeaked as one of the tentacles slithered a firm path across his belly and then lower. “S-stop, w-what are you-”

“Most curious.” Shockwave sounded greatly amused. “You’re also far warmer than I expected. I thought sharks were supposed to be cold blooded.” 

“I’m not a shark either!” Blurr snapped. 

“No, I suppose not. You are far more complicated, aren’t you?” Shockwave tilted his head to the side. He turned Blurr over again, tentacles still restraining lightly while his palms flattened against Blurr’s chest. “Your heart is beating very quickly.” 

“You’re menacing me. Like one of those crabs you like eating so much.” Blurr said, cheeks flushing. 

Shockwave let out a sound that may have been a very soft, very brief chuckle. “It isn’t as if you’ve given me much choice, Blurr. You never hold still, how else am I supposed to examine you properly?” 

“Why do you need to examine me at all?” Blurr asked, squeaking and beginning to wriggle when Shockwave moved his hands to Blurr’s sides and lightly scraped his fingers down them. “S-stop that!” 

“Oh?” Shockwave tilted his head again, repeating the motion using a little less pressure. 

Blurr bit down on his lip and squirmed, bubbles erupting from him as he expelled a startled breath. The taut muscles of his stomach fluttered and he uselessly flapped his tail in the water as a high pitched noise escaped him when Shockwave repeated the motion of his hands a third time. 

“You’re ticklish.” Shockwave observed. 

“N-no! I’m being m-menaced!” Blurr insisted, erupting into helpless laughter when Shockwave pressed his fingers into his sides and began to wiggle them. “N-noooo! Stop!” 

Snorting in amusement, Shockwave continued his assault until Blurr was breathless and limp. He gave off a rather satisfied aura. “See? I have learned something important about you, Blurr.” 

“So rude.” Blurr panted. “I told you to stop! I hate being tickled!” 

“You never cease to surprise me.” Shockwave sighed softly. He loosened his hold on Blurr’s body, but as soon as Blurr tried to dart away, a tentacle wrapped around the end of his tail and kept him from getting too far away. Try as he might, Blurr couldn’t keep himself from being reeled in and wrapped up once more. “Still feeling menaced?” 

“Yes.” Blurr stated, though he relaxed into the hold of Shockwave’s seemingly endless supply of wriggling appendages. He didn’t have the energy to fight anymore.


	2. Makeshift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet our doppelganger and the mystery deepens...

Two legs had always been difficult, had always taken time to get used to. Luckily for Makeshift, this wasn’t his first time using two legs.

He’d been doing this gig for a long time. He wasn’t bothered by tasks like this. It was easy! He’d done it a dozen times or more at this point. Get the spell. Find the target. Cast the spell. Take the target’s visage and persona. Live as the target long enough to find a plausible way to fake their death. Go home and wait for the next task. 

The current job was turning out to be a no more of a problem for him than normal. Makeshift wasn’t expecting to but he really rather enjoyed being the human known as Blake ‘Blurr’ Johnson.

The young human was passionate about physical activity of all sorts, but when it came to anything having to do with the ocean, that passion became manic, obsessive. That was why his employer had chosen this particular human. Who was better for a tribute than a human who probably would be happier as a mer?

No one seemed to find it strange that he was walking around and gawking at everything like a tourist. From the snippets of conversation he’d exchanged with locals, Makeshift gathered this was the first time in a long while that Blurr had been here. Things had changed, they kept telling him. It was little wonder he had to ask for directions, little wonder things seemed unfamiliar and shiny and new. 

Even spending time with Blurr’s family was easy. Mom and Dad would see him wandering through the beach house or down the street with his headphones in and they’d just exchange knowing smiles. When Mom found out that all he was listening to was recordings of ocean waves or recordings taken beneath the water, she had laughed and shaken her head. 

“That figures.” She said. “I swear you’re part fish.” 

Oh if only she knew. 

Makeshift only raised suspicion when he declined the invitation from Blurr’s parents to go to the local aquarium and rehabilitation center. It was logically something that Blurr would have been happy to do, but there was no way Makeshift’s cover wouldn’t be completely blown if he went near other mer. 

Deep magic had a very distinct scent. The mer in the center wouldn’t be able to mistake it. 

He made the excuse that he’d rather head down to the wharf and pick up something for dinner that night. Mom and Dad seemed to find this sufficiently plausible but Mom did question if he was sure he didn’t want to go see the mer. 

“It’s our last night in town. I would have thought you’d want to catch up with your ‘friends.’” She teased. 

Last night in town? That wasn’t going to work. “Maybe I’ve decided to just stay.” He said in reply, tone light. “Then I’d have plenty of time to visit them when I’m ready.” 

Mom and Dad exchanged a glance, but it didn’t carry even a flicker of surprise. Those knowing smiles crossed their faces again and they both came over to him with arms open. He was no stranger to hugs. Makeshift often embraced family members one last time before disappearing… he didn’t like to think about leaving them without a goodbye. Human hearts were breakable, after all. 

“We knew this day would come.” Mom said in a happy tone with a little sigh. 

“Guess you should maybe ask if any of the boats are looking for deckhands while you’re down at the wharf.” Dad chuckled. “I can’t just hand the keys to this place over to you unless I’m sure you’re gonna be able to take care of it.” 

It should have made Makeshift wary, things going so smoothly. Everything was just a bit too easy. It wasn’t until he got to the wharf that the other shoe dropped, as the humans said. 

“If you’re looking for the freshest stock, Swerve’s got his boat coming in right now.” One of the fishermen told him when he asked what would be best for a farewell dinner. “Just give him a few minutes to figure out how to dock that warship of his and you could probably get first pick.” 

So Makeshift did just that, he stood and watched as the one named Swerve awkwardly maneuvered his large fishing boat into its dock. He stood and stared at the stocky figure that emerged from the interior of the ship once it had finally settled. He felt his heart thud in his chest in a manner most uncomfortable and felt a lump rise up in his throat. 

The other shoe dropped like a cannonball, dropped to the pit of his stomach and plunged it all the way down to his feet. Makeshift felt his mouth go dry. The resemblance was really uncanny, he was absolutely certain he’d met this human before. A very, very long time ago. 

Suddenly the job was a lot more complicated. Suddenly Makeshift was grateful that he’d made the decision to stay here. 

Pushing a hand through his reddish coloured hair and sighing, Swerve caught his gaze and held it for a second. “Hey, I hope I didn’t splash you or anything. New boat, who dis, am I right?” He said with a slightly awkward smile. 

“Uh huh.” Makeshift responded. His mouth still felt like it was stuffed full of sponge. 

“So uh, what were you looking for?” Swerve asked. His hands came up in front of him, fingers interlocking, thumbs rubbing together in a nervous gesture. 

“Salmon?” Makeshift asked. He couldn’t shake himself out of it. He also couldn’t help wondering if maybe his employer had been so insistent upon him doing this job because it was meant to be a punishment. 

“Huh. I didn’t think you liked salmon.” Swerve said with a quirk of one brow. “But sure! I’ve got salmon. You wanna come up or you want me to just bring the nicest one down to you, Blurr?” 

They knew each other. That was bad. Were they friends? How could someone not like salmon?

“Right. I forgot. I meant yellowfin.” Makeshift blurted. 

“Yeah, that’s in season.” Swerve muttered. “In another part of the world maybe. Look, it’s been a long day and I don’t really have time to be made fun of tonight. I have a living to make, so are you going to buy something or not?” 

Oh crap, that wasn’t what he’d wanted to do at all! Makeshift drew in a breath and managed a smirk. Was it too cocky? Did it seem condescending? His face felt stiff. 

“It’s been so long since I was here last, can’t blame a guy for forgetting. Here, I’ll give you money, you give me your freshest fish, does that work?” He asked. “It doesn’t matter what sort of fish it is, it’s for the last supper I’m having with my family tonight so just give me whichever one is your favourite.” 

Swerve observed him for a moment, then let out a short sigh. He crouched at the top of the ladder and held his hand out. Makeshift pulled the cash out of his pocket that Mom and Dad had given him. He reached up and placed it in Swerve’s palm, then helped the human curl his own fingers around it. 

Strong, weathered hands. Working hands. Familiar hands… 

Swerve didn’t say anything, he simply gave Makeshift a curious look. His cheeks coloured a bit and he stood back up. After a mutter that Makeshift couldn’t decipher past the sound of his own blood rushing in his ears, Swerve headed into the hold. 

Makeshift couldn’t help the excitement he was feeling. Well, excitement and a healthy dose of fear. He had a feeling he was going to be lingering here a lot longer than his employer would have liked. He didn’t care right now. 

He didn’t care if Slipstream killed him for this. Second chances weren’t something to be passed up. “Praise all the magic below.” Makeshift murmured to himself as an excited grin spread across his face.


	3. Chapter 3

Longarm honestly had it so much easier when it came to hunting. He barely had to move, didn’t have to dart to and fro and chase his food around. He just had to glide lazily across the sand and pluck crabs off the seafloor with his tentacles. 

Blurr didn’t think it was fair. 

He was getting the hang of the hunt, he had figured out how to better anticipate where the fish would be when he chased it. He had graduated to a seventy percent success rate and was now able to feed himself, much to Longarm’s relief. 

After all, now that Blurr could catch his own fish, he wasn’t taking all of Longarm’s shellfish. 

“My favourite used to be salmon. I noticed there’s no salmon around here. I’m not entirely sure what this particular fish is, but it’s not bad. I don’t think I like this one as much as I liked that ugly one I got off the bottom yesterday but at least this one isn’t as gritty as that one was.” Blurr said as he gnawed on the tail of the fish he’d just finished eating. 

Longarm had a crab leg sticking out of his mouth and so didn’t answer. He gazed at Blurr quietly, the large red eye in the middle of his forehead carrying a peculiar intensity. 

Staring right back once he noticed he had Longarm’s attention, Blurr was soon moving closer. Longarm watched him, cautious and curious all at once. 

Then the sneaky shark leaned in, snagged the crab leg in his razor sharp teeth and tugged it right out of Longarm’s mouth. Stunned by such boldness, Longarm didn’t have the presence of mind to immediately retaliate. Besides, the amused explosion of bubbles from Blurr’s gills as a result of his mischievous giggle and the quick, wiggling retreat was adorable. 

Lately, Blurr had been exploring things the way only sharks did. Everything got licked and nibbled. Once Blurr realized he could taste things and perceive them in a way that he had previously only been able to via touch or smell, Longarm got to watch him flit about the reef and put everything he touched in his mouth. 

Of course, it had taken Blurr a little while to get over the embarrassment of it. He’d been trying to hide the action from Longarm at first, but once he realized there was no judgement in his stare, he’d thrown his inhibitions to the current. 

But while Blurr had been distracted by stealing his dinner from him, Longarm had surreptitiously taken the mostly eaten fish Blurr had been working on before.

“I’ve killed mer for less, you know.” Longarm said simply, stuffing the fish tail in his mouth and making short work of the flesh that still clung to it.

Blurr was undeterred. He crunched down on the crab leg and maintained eye contact as he did so. After he swallowed, he grinned widely. 

“In order to do that, you’d have to catch me first.” He taunted. 

Which was true. There would be an easier way to do so than an attempt to chase the incredibly swift mer who lived up to his name, but expending the energy to transform to his true shape wasn’t on Longarm’s to-do list. 

If it hadn’t been for the fact that he was getting so used to Blurr being in his personal space, Longarm would have been more cautious and his dinner wouldn’t have been stolen from him. But Blurr had been getting more and more playful as of late, and it was so impossibly endearing that Longarm had dropped his guard. Blurr was constantly tugging at his tentacles, and seemed delighted when Longarm wrenched them away. 

“I’m not chasing you. You’ve already eaten my dinner, you’ve got nothing else I want.” Longarm said as he picked daintily at the last lingering remnants of meat on Blurr’s fish. 

“You’re no fun.” Blurr pouted. “Fine then, no games. But I’m still hungry, we should catch some more dinner.” 

“Be my guest.” Longarm flicked the fish skeleton away and arched a brow. 

“I’ve got something very particular in mind,” Blurr stated with a smirk. “It’s something I realize I haven’t had in a long time. Maybe you know where I can find it.” 

“As long as you’re not expecting me to catch it for you,” Longarm said with a roll of his eyes and a short sigh. “What is it?” 

Blurr swam up into his personal space again, his smirk turning to a wide grin. He leaned in until their faces almost touched, then in an almost sinister tone whispered, “Squid.”

Longarm had to catch himself, keep himself from immediately lashing out. No, this fool was _bound_ to him, there was no way that he could hurt him. It was a joke, a poor one, a horrible one. 

“No.” He said bluntly, all three of his eyes narrowing. 

“You’ve got lots of arms. You’re not using them all.” Blurr was grabbing one of said arms as he spoke. 

“Blurr.” Longarm said in warning. At least he hadn’t grabbed the wrong arm and made this situation even more awkward. 

“Just a nibble? A lick maybe?” Blurr was giggling as he lifted the arm towards his mouth. 

What in the world had gotten into the silly fish? Was this a human thing? Longarm stared at him, transfixed by the whole bizarre scenario. Was he actually going to-

Yes. Yes he was. Blurr licked the arm he was holding and immediately made a face. Then his eyes widened and he gave Longarm the oddest look. 

Before Longarm could open his mouth to ask what was wrong, Blurr stuffed the end of his appendage in his mouth and sucked on it. 

“Blurr!” Longarm cried, colour rippling over his body in rapid waves as a variety of frankly uncomfortable feelings rushed through him. “What in the world are you doing?!”

Spitting out the appendage, Blurr curled his nose. He looked at Longarm and tilted his head to the side. “That was strange.” He said.

“Then why did you do it?” Longarm asked in bewilderment. 

“I can… taste your… feelings. I think?” Blurr said with uncertainty and touched his fingers to his mouth. “It’s the weirdest sensation. It’s like… smelling you with my mouth.” 

“Please never do that again, not without permission.” Longarm snatched up the tentacle that Blurr had been sucking on and inspected it for damage. Nothing seemed amiss, no teeth marks or discoloration. 

“Okay. Can I do it again, please?” Blurr asked, and he probably thought he was being polite about it.

“Why?” Longarm asked shortly. “Why would you want to do it again if it was so obviously distasteful?” 

“Well… would it taste different now?” Blurr asked, head tilting to the other side this time. “You’re weirded out. Annoyed. And whatever else all those flashing colours indicate.” 

“It might?” Longarm shook his helm. “I… this doesn’t seem entirely necessary, but if it will keep you from whining about being hungry for the next little while, then-” 

“Thanks.” Blurr snatched the arm back before Longarm finished speaking. He was at least more gentle about it this time. 

Still, the cuttlefish sighed shortly and pondered how he’d gotten himself into this. The fool was bound to him, that wasn’t something he could just reverse so he could go on his merry way. He was stuck with Blurr whether he liked it or not.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mystery deepens...

Now familiar with Longarm’s unique scent and taste, Blurr made a game of finding the borders of the territory that Longarm had claimed as his own. He wasn’t interested in wandering too far until he knew exactly where home was. 

And this was home now. He had accepted that. His fruitless attempts to communicate with humans on the wharf had culminated in some genius fisherman trying to net him and Blurr had given up. 

They couldn’t understand him, and they didn’t like him. The only one that had been halfway nice was Swerve, and Blurr guessed that was because he looked so little like he used to that Swerve didn’t know who he was. It had honestly taken Blurr a little while to realize who Swerve was, and if the stocky fisherman had any idea his highschool bully was the friendly fish man that had been trying desperately to garner positive attention from humankind, there was a good chance he’d be tossing nets too. Or harpoons. It all depended on how much of a grudge Swerve might have been holding. 

The ocean seemed impossibly big under the waves, perhaps even bigger than it did from the surface. So Blurr wanted to know where comfort and safety was. He wanted to know where he could fish without fear of encroaching on someone else’s turf, he wanted to know which caves were okay to sleep in, which patches of coral or forests of kelp he could venture into without being chased off. 

Longarm followed along in his wake, occasionally grabbing hold of his tail with one short arm and letting himself be towed. He was heavier than he appeared, but the more Blurr swam, the better he got at hunting, and the more he ate, the stronger he became. 

Being well fed made his awareness more keen, made it easier for him to sense things in his surroundings through pulses in the water. He could recognize the currents made by his favourite fish, for example, and knew what bottom dwellers to avoid and when there was a cloud of jellies coming through. 

Blurr had felt the same pulse intermittently for the last three days, but hadn’t been able to figure out what it belonged to since it was evading him quite expertly. Every time he felt it, he’d swim to the source but there’d be nothing there. It resulted in him swimming round in confused circles before giving up dejectedly and swimming onward, and it bred in him a touch of paranoia. 

After the fight with the diseased creature from the depths, Blurr felt a little paranoia was healthy. 

Still, the feeling of constantly being followed, being watched was starting to set his teeth on edge. Longarm seemed to sense his discomfort and released him, and Blurr let himself cut loose. He swam much faster without the drag of Longarm being attached to him, and swimming laps as fast as he possibly could helped calm him down. 

He heard Longarm speaking to someone when he made his way back, and he slowed so he could hopefully listen in. Blurr was curious… they hadn’t encountered anyone else in this territory since the fight. 

“- absolutely insane.” An unfamiliar voice was saying, hushed and full of frustration. “You know very well he wasn’t intended for you.” 

“That stopped mattering when he was left here to fend for himself.” Longarm replied shortly. 

“You’ve never cared about that before. What makes this one so different?” The unfamiliar speaker asked. 

“You’ve been following us around long enough, you should be able to see for yourself. Don’t think I missed you lurking, Prowl.” Longarm said, distinctly unamused. 

“I suppose in the fervor of battle, you forgot the crevasse you stuffed him into was occupied.” Prowl replied in agitation. 

“So what if I did?” Longarm asked, giving Prowl an unimpressed look. “Have you entertained the thought that I knew exactly what crevasse that was and trusted you enough to watch my injured ward for me while I was preoccupied?” 

Blurr crept closer still, getting his first look at the stranger named Prowl. Blurr’s first thought was that Prowl might have been a snake, but a closer look showed it was more likely he was an eel. 

Prowl had thin arms folded over a narrow chest. His long, smooth tail twitched slightly, the fins that lined it fluttering despite the current being quiet here. 

“I didn’t. Because that’s an incredibly unlikely thing to expect.” Prowl snapped. “You don’t trust, you tolerate, but only so long as something has some use to you.”

“This is true. Now, why have you been following us?” Longarm asked with a shrug. 

“Thanks to you, the water around my crevasse no longer has any food in it. The commotion, and the pollution, chased away all the fish.” Prowl said. “Even the trevally are steering clear.” 

“So you came all the way out here to yell at me?” Longarm asked with a derisive laugh. “Really Prowl?” 

“I came for a conversation. Why does it always have to come down to aggression with you?” Prowl’s tone was annoyed. “This situation you’ve dragged us into is getting more and more dangerous, Longarm. It’s not a coincidence that we were attacked by that creature. Has the thought crossed your mind that it might have been purposely orchestrated?” 

Blurr frowned as he listened. That didn’t sound even remotely comforting. The mystery surrounding his predicament was deepening by the second. 

“Don’t be so paranoid.” Longarm said simply. 

“A little bit of paranoia can be healthy, Longarm. You transformed. She’s bound to have noticed that.” Prowl argued. 

Who was ‘she?’ And why would ‘she’ have noticed? Did ‘she’ send the monster to attack them? 

Was ‘she’ the one that turned Blurr into a mer?

“It was brief. And we’ve moved since then.” Longarm said in response. “Even if she did pick up on the magic, it’ll be too faint for her to track. You’re worrying over nothing, Prowl. I’ve been doing this a long time.” 

“Your magic might be too faint to track. His isn’t.” Prowl said, and lifted his arm to point in Blurr’s direction. 

Longarm looked over, and Blurr didn’t think he looked at all startled to see him there. “She’d be a fool to come chasing after him now.” Longarm informed Prowl without taking his eyes off of Blurr. All three of them. “And the moment I bound him to me, he stopped being intended for anyone else.”


	5. Chapter 5

Swerve was seeing much more of Blurr than he ever thought he would, and he had to admit he was still waiting for the inevitable reveal that he was being filmed for some sort of prank show. 

Blake Johnson had never been Swerve’s biggest fan. It wasn’t even that his torment during the years they’d gone to school together was particularly malicious, it was just more memorable than the rest of it had been. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they hadn’t started off as friends when they were kids, Swerve was sure. 

Well, Swerve thought they had been friends at least. They’d played together on the beach, they’d made up games and stories and they’d wandered around talking about the mer for hours at a time. They had a lot in common but he had never been very athletic and well… in the end Blake had discovered he was really great at swimming and running and he started going by Blurr and sort of left Swerve in the dust. 

And after all of that, now Blurr was just being so _nice_ to him. So helpful. Maybe that’s why Swerve had taken pity on him when he found him on the docks, wandering around with a sort of manic energy, striking up conversations with every fisherman he could find in an attempt to get a job. 

Apparently Blurr missed the harbour so much that he’d decided not to go back to the big city. 

The big old warboat that Swerve had on his hands was a little bit too big and too old for him to handle on his own. That was why it wasn’t as difficult for him to open his mouth and blurt out those fateful words while he and Blurr happened to be standing in line at the Starbucks at the same time one afternoon. 

“You wanna come work on my boat with me?” 

Blurr looked at him with wide eyes and Swerve opened his mouth once again to take it back. 

“Do I ever!” Blurr said, and bounced on his toes while wearing a wide smile. “Are you serious? Cause that would literally save my life a thousand times over, Swerve.” 

“Yeah, I’m serious. I couldn’t promise to pay you a load at first, but it would be great to have some extra help with that stupid aircraft carrier I decided to buy when my last boat went down.” Swerve jerked a thumb over his shoulder and rolled his optics in what he hoped was a humorous and self deprecating way. 

“Big boat for a little fisher.” Blurr said, and it was so darn near affectionate that Swerve couldn’t even be mad. 

Either Swerve was having an unsettlingly nice dream, or this was some bizarro universe he’d crashed into with his damn boat.

“Yeah. Yeah it is. Uh, let me buy you coffee, then we can head to the docks and get the paperwork sorted.” Swerve said with what he hoped was a subtle blush. 

“I was starting to lose hope.” Blurr said once their coffees were secured and they were making their way down the boardwalk. 

“Happy to be of service.” Swerve mumbled, his blush persisting. 

What exactly was he getting himself into here?

 

Makeshift really hoped he knew what he was getting himself into here. This was a very dangerous mistake. An monumental error. And it wasn’t the first time he’d made it. 

His mistress was _definitely_ going to fire him for this. And being fired from a binding life contract meant… well… 

He knew what it meant. And it scared him to think about it. But even more frightening was the prospect of letting this moment pass him by. After all this time, after all these years, and wasn’t it just kismet that Swerve looked _exactly_ like him?

He needed more time though. The magic didn’t last forever, only as long as it took to completely metabolize the blood he’d ingested. It was almost done, it was almost gone. 

In order to keep this life, he was going to need to track Blurr down and take more of his blood. That was the easy part. 

Humans had a very skewed understanding of the people that inhabited their waters. It wasn’t just the warm bloods and the cold bloods, it was much more complicated than that. There were mer who didn’t live in the water full time, they only hunted there. There were mer that lived far, far below where humans could safely reach. 

And there were mer that were actually things that humans misattributed as other beings. Makeshift was one of these mer. He wasn’t just a shapeshifter, a dweller of the deeps, he was a siren. Of course, sirens didn’t work the way that humans imagined they did. 

For starters, they couldn’t just charm anyone they pleased, there had to be a blood connection. And secondly, they didn’t sing to just anyone. They weren’t in the business of causing ships to wreck just for fun. There was always a purpose to their songs. 

The only thing that humans seem to have gotten right about sirens was the bit about them being beautiful. Makeshift had been once… not so much anymore. You didn’t get to stay beautiful when you made nasty mistakes like he had. 

Nasty mistakes like the one he was making again now. 

Far after paperwork had been completed, later into the night than most humans were stirring, Makeshift headed down to the dock where he’d first met the human whose body he wore now. He went to the shore next to the dock and got to his knees in the sand. 

Taking in a deep breath, Makeshift began to sing. 

 

Shockwave didn’t tend to worry about where Blurr was so long as he stayed in their territory. As long as Blurr didn’t cross the threshold, Shockwave could always find him. They didn’t spend every waking moment together, as Blurr never stopped moving whereas Shockwave liked to rest in the hotter parts of the day. 

The bond shared between them let Shockwave know when Blurr got too far away. That was what woke him when the moon was beginning to descend toward the horizon. The bond seemed stretched and thin, and there was the taste of magic in the water. 

When Shockwave came out from his sleeping crevasse, he was unsurprised to see the other mer who shared his territory was also roused. Prowl was treading the water, facing eastward, towards the shore. As Shockwave moved to join him, he could hear the song. 

Prowl didn’t say a word, he just turned his helm ever so slightly to look at Shockwave with an expectant expression. Likewise, Shockwave was silent as he propelled himself in the direction of the shore. 

It didn’t take him long to reach it, but it still took him long enough for the song to have faded. The magic was still thick in the water, and even thicker in the air when he chanced breaching the surface to search the beach. 

Blurr was easy to see in the darkness. The blue of his flesh was pale enough to stand out among the dark sand, the driftwood and the stones. He was half in the water, half out, and he wasn’t moving. 

Panic filled Shockwave. He extended his arms, let them stretch out and curl around the lower half of Blurr’s body. He lifted him rather than drag him and potentially hurt him, lowered him back into the water. 

Gills fluttered. Blurr’s eyes were open, but dark and dazed. Once surrounded by water, his tail began to move slowly from side to side. He was alive, unharmed but for a mark on his wrist that was oozing blood. 

Shockwave looked back at the shore, scoured the length of it for some sign of whoever it was who had lured his ward here. There was no one in sight. 

No one to punish for this. 

Cradling Blurr close, wrapping a tentacle around the bleeding wound so it wouldn’t attract any further unsavoury company, Shockwave headed out into deeper water.


End file.
